This invention relates to motor assemblies, and more particularly, to a motor assembly with a combined armature shaft bearing support and brush tube holder.
When designing a line of motor driven tools, such as circular saws, it is advantageous to have as much commonality of parts as possible between the different tools within the line. This commonality of parts is especially appropriate for the motor assembly of the tool, since different tools within a line may be provided with motors of varying horsepower. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a motor assembly for a power tool which is so designed as to maximize commonality of parts for motors having different power outputs.
In the past, it was conventional to design power tools so that the motor assembly was held together by the housing and was not assembled separately from the housing. Thus, for example, holders for the shaft bearings and holders for the brush tubes were molded as part of the housing, rather than being part of the motor assembly, per se. In a new tool design, the motor assembly is assembled by itself separate from the tool housing and then the housing is secured to the motor assembly. In this design, there is a single member which acts as both the bearing support for the commutator end of the motor shaft and the holder for the brush tubes. Since different size motors typically utilize different size brush tubes, it is another object of this invention to provide a combined bearing support and brush tube holder of the type described which can accommodate different size brush tubes.